Reasserting Rights to British Citizenship Through Registration age of ten if the child was born in the UK and has spent the intervening period living in the UK. This is subject to maximum periods of absence,20 albeit subject to a discretion upon the Secretary of State to waive any absence beyond those limits.21 The debates in 1981 indicate that Parliament did not anticipate that this provision would apply to many children for it expected that parents, who were not settled at the time of a child’s birth in the UK, would ordinarily have either left or become settled before the child’s tenth birthday.22 Nonetheless: ‘The essence of the matter is that if a child has been here for 10 years, we believe that it is reasonable, even though his parents may be illegals or overstayers, that he be granted citizenship because his roots will have gone deep.’23 This brings us back to the Minister’s earlier statement when – in contrasting ‘birds of passage’ – he had emphasised the humane and common-sense rationale for immediate recognition of citizenship at birth where a parent was already settled. To complete the passage cited above: ‘It would be reasonable on both humane and common sense grounds to pick up those children when they are born, rather than to wait for the 10-year provision, which frankly, has been brought in to deal with another category of person – those whose parents are not lawfully settled in this country.’ As can be seen, s 1 – whether as regards the children who acquire citizenship at birth or the children who acquire entitlements to register as a British citizen – is clearly focused on the connection of the child to the UK. Growing up in the UK after being born in this country establishes connection. Where a child’s future life in the UK can be reasonably anticipated because a parent is settled in this country, recognition of that connection is not delayed. However, taken together, the various provisions of this section recognise the connection of all children born and growing up in this country, whatever the status of a child’s parent, by granting the right to British citizenship. Reduction of statelessness One particular problem of ending recognition of ius soli in British nationality law concerned the UK’s obligations under the 1961 UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Article 1 of the Convention requires state signatories to make provision to reduce statelessness in one of two ways. The state must either provide for automatic acquisition of its nationality by any person born on its territory, if that person would otherwise be stateless;24 or it must provide for granting its nationality on the application of any stateless person born on its territory subject to that person fulfilling such conditions the state may adopt from among those permitted by the Convention.25 In the latter case, the article expressly states that no application fulfilling 20 21 22 23 24 25 The requirement is for no more than 90 days absences from the UK in each of the first ten years of the person’s life. The discretion is to be found in s 1(7), British Nationality Act 1981 and may be exercised ‘in the special circumstances of any particular case’. In keeping with the underlying statutory purpose, it is suggested that special circumstances are circumstances that, despite the absences beyond the limits, demonstrate the person’s connection to the UK. See eg Hansard HL, 7 July 1981: Col 666 per Lord Belstead. Hansard HC, 26 February 1981: Col 230 per Mr Timothy Raison. Article 1(1)(a), 1961 UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Article 1(1)(b), 1961 UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. 145